A leaf seeking the light
by JulieBailadore
Summary: A ShikaTema story. Shikamaru heard a rumour 2 years ago from a certain brother of a certain Suna kunoichi. Crestfallen he buries himself in work and missions, never allowing himself any contact with her again. Fortunately he has got good friends and a very observant Hokage looking out for his well-being and plotting a reunision of those two.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto or its characters.

* * *

He stood in front of the memorial stone, staring down on the long lines of names carved into the stone. Face grave and dark. He knew today will happen the inevitable. It was this time of the year, the hottest months already on the go, the green of the trees so dark and on the verge of being tried out. Some crickets were still chirping and a soft wind was caressing his face. The Fifth had already informed him about it some months ago. They were short on staff and the job needs to be done and all the other remaining Konoha 11 have already done it. He sighed. Well, all except of him.

In the last 4 years he always had come around it, busy being an ANBU and all over the world and now being head strategist as his father once has been. His father,… another sigh escaped him as he searched with his dark brown eyes the black surface in front of him. There he was: Nara Shikaku, died in action. Protecting the country all of them loved so much. Shikamaru remembered shortly his fathers' face, how he had smiled at him when he promoted to chunin level at the young age of 12. His father had been so proud of him. Right after his promotion he had taught his son the advanced shadow binding techniques of the Nara clan. But that was long ago now, exactly 12 years ago. A faint smile appeared on his mouth when he remembered their arguments about shogi strategies.

That thought brought him to another person he was missing today. Just some lines above his father. Sarutobi Asuma, his former sensei and the one adult he always had looked up to. He really has been cool, for an adult that is. Now, with 24 he also was one of the grown ups. He promoted to jonin status several years ago and started his career as an ANBU captain right afterwards. Shikamaru dedicated his life to this town. But nonetheless he also tried to stay out of everything that would cause troublesome situations. He was a thinker, a strategist, staying behind in the shadows and pulling from there the strings. The peace his dad and him had helped to establish had held just 5 years. Now the treaties were crumpling. Last year they heard news of an arising new power in the land of rivers, also a new Raikage was chosen in the hidden village of the land of lightning and he certainly didn't bother to create some sort of light atmosphere so far.

Tsunade-sama, the Fifth, had Shikamaru forcefully retire from ANBU to be readily available as her consultant at any time. This had the negative side effect that unlike all of his friends he had to stay in Konoha almost all the time. He grew more and more frustrated about this, and Tsunade's attempts to make his situation more comfortable did just infuriate him further. Shikamaru had now to coordinate all the jonins of Konohagakure, a job his father had had before and was also now in full charge of the chunin selection exam. This last year had really been troublesome. But what bothered him the most was that he missed the contact with his friends,… Nobody was around long enough. Everybody risked their lives on a daily basis and he was just sitting at home-coming up with freaking strategies but really… He was bored to death. And on top of this he was imprisoned here in Konoha, far away from this damned sandy country. Unfortunately his moodiness had not escaped a certain well-endowed person and she already had another diversion planned for him. He remembered their talk yesterday afternoon.

"_Oh come on, Shikamaru. It is time for you to give your knowledge further on. And it will get you out of your office quite a lot, promise. And hey, I even handpicked the members for you…", her voice had a convincing sound to it. An evil smile had appeared on the Hokages face. _

"_Well, it is troublesome and I have no idea how to do this, right? What if I suck?", he said and put his hands into his pockets when he said that and looked very unconvinced out of the window._

_On the forehead of the Godaime some wrinkles appeared. "Nara, that is not an offer but an order. Just do it and get a hold on yourself. You haven't shown a lot of the will of fire lately,… Maybe this challenge will bring back some sense into your life. Now go. You are dismissed," she scolded at him and slammed her hand on the desk in front of her which gave a cracking noise before breaking into two pieces. A sigh escaped her and something like "Not again, … Shizune will hate me for this one…" But that was shortly before Shikamaru closed the door to the Hokages office behind him. _

Now he was here. Confronting those two fathers he lost, with the new task, asking without hope for advice. He really had no clue. The first time since long he was almost afraid of a "mission". But then again… He looked up to the sky. Full of clouds, fast-moving. He always had wanted to help shaping the next generation. To form more of this cool adults, like Asuma-sensei. Maybe Tsunade was right. He needed a new focus. Why not give them a try. Shikamaru shrugged his shoulders and with a last sigh he vanished towards the ninja academy building, picking up his first team of bloody young genins.

* * *

Choji Akamichi knocked on the office door of the Fifth. An irritated "come in" answered and he shortly thought of vanishing right here from the spot but then again he wanted to help his best friend out of his depression. And this time he came up with a master plan even the Hokage wasn't fully aware of.

He entered the office and saw himself confronted with the backside of Tsunades office chair. She was looking out of her window, the glowing Konoha in the sun set in front of her.

"How did it go?", Choji asked. His voice was calm and collected.

Tsunade turned around, one of her eye brows pulled up. "Well, as you said. He is depressed. He didn't even really argue about it. It makes me worry quite a while now," she answered earnest.

Choji pressed his lips together and stared in her caramel coloured eyes. "The kids will help. I'm sure of this. He always related good to kids. And especially the one will help a lot. I trust him, he'll come out of this, if his laziness isn't getting the upper hand," Choji replied with a half-smile.

Tsunade gave the young Akamichi a long look over. He was so determined and full of hope. A good sign. When best friends believe in each other like that. Once again she was proud of what had become of Konohagakure. A place full of young people with the right spirit.

"Alright, Choji, I'm sure you do know him best. Just make sure those kids are progressing as they should. Report in every fortnight and then we will see if we can get some fire into him." And with that she turned around again towards her window and smirked a little. _It was so nice to distribute some of the weight of responsibility on someone else._

Choji kept his relieve to himself and left with a short nod of approval the office. He personally would keep an eye on this story. He was in great depths to Shikamaru. And his friend definitely had suffered long enough now. Choji remembered again this one night, almost 2 years ago now. Shikamaru was drunk as hell, absolutely unlike his usual self and was babbling around of killing someones beloved clown-faced brother. That was when Choji finally figured out the secret feelings of his best friends heart. And since then he was trying to come up with an idea how he could help Shikamaru.

He left the Hokage tower and started towards the flat Ino recently has moved into. He wanted to ask her a little for advice and assistance. This will be working. And if not he would use gentle force to make it work.

* * *

In the far away country of sand, a quite annoyed Kankoru slammed his fist on the table in front of him. "You can't just turn down every single squad team I'm assigning you to! What is the matter with you, Temari? Have you forgotten everything about discipline and our goals?!", he screamed at the blond Kunoichi in front of him.

Temari bit her lip, repressing the urge to burst out right away. She had to restrain herself and forced a flippy comment out of herself, her green eyes sparkling of contained anger.

"I can't work with those brats. They can't handle anything, and I don't trust them either. Why can't I just work further in the academy? Why do I need to get along with idiots on missions which will last months," she was finally yelling.

Kankoru turned an alarming shade of red. "You,… Are you seriously disobeying the orders of our Kazekage? What the hell is wrong with those guys, they are all jonin and perfectly capable," he demanded to know.

Temari rolled her eyes. She was so tired of playing these games. Really it was so obvious. She was not the most intelligent Suna ninja for nothing. With a sigh she gave up.

"That's the problem brother. You really don't get it! It's always guys you assign to me, certain guys, which I guess you even handpicked for me! I appreciate your worry, fine, but I really don't need your help. I'm happy with being alone. As each of us is," Temari confessed and looked her brother accusingly into the eyes.

Kankoru had now a guilty look on his face. He even scratched his head with one hand and started to smirk. "Guess, I should have known you would smell that one. Well, honestly. We both don't agree with that loneliness you put around you. It remembers us too much of those years,… When Gaara has been hated by everyone. Even us," he admitted.

"But it is my decision, my life. It is difficult enough to be the Kazekages sister and following all those stupid protocols. That is a decision out of your reach. So, be kind and keep your nose out of my business," Temari answered with a threatening tone in her voice.

With that she stood up and left the room, not without slamming the door hard into its lock. Outside she staggered through the dark corridor. Her knees were trembling a little. She suddenly stopped and leaned against the wall, feeling its coolness on her heated up body. _"Geez,… how much longer?"_, she thought, her mind far away in the past. _Troublesome…_ Then she took a deep breath and went outside into the gleaming sun light.

* * *

A sword pinned the last scout into the field of his already fallen friends.

"Mind you, that sword doesn't like the sound of dying persons too much. Could you get over it already", an amused voice asked the dying scout.

A shadow fell on the coughing shinobi. His left hand reached out towards his comrades. Blood was dripping out of his mouth and from the fatal wound the sword has cut into him. He wore the uniform of the hidden village of the land of rivers.

"Ah at last, a brave one! Oh dear, I'm so very sorry for this, but you see we need food. A lot of food. And you were so nicely passing by…". And with this the shadow longed for his sword once again and brought it done a second time. No coughing anymore.


	2. Chapter 2

Shikamaru looked up and examined the building in front of him. _Well, that certainly brings back memories._ The academy building had changed a lot in those years, almost completely destroyed during the invasion of Konoha by Pain. But he could still see the windows of his former class room and couldn't stop himself from smiling when he thought about how Naruto, Choji, Kiba and him had always sneaked out of the class to spent lazy afternoons outside instead of learning how to do replicates of themselves. With this smile he left the shadow of the large tree growing directly in front of the building and walked towards the entrance. He was late he realized all of a sudden, when he saw the large clock in the entrance. _To have patience. Also a very important shinobi rule. _He, as a strategist, knew this very well. So this was the first lesson his new genins would learn. Patience with their newbie-sensei. He put his hands into his pockets and walked around the corner towards the class rooms. Right there in front of him an old friend was already waiting for him, leaning against the wall across the class room door. A bright smile appeared on the face of the attractive kunoichi, whirling her long blond ponytail when she jumped up to greet him cheerfully.

"Shikamaru-kun, you did come at last! I knew you would come, although you certainly didn't make a very good first impression on those little devils in there," Ino commented after hugging him and pointed with her forefinger towards the door.

"Oh nice to see you too, Ino-san. What brings you here into the academy?", he asked not with a certain amount of discomfort. He definitely wasn't in the mood to do chit-chatting with Ino Yamanaka. This woman was full of gossip and Shikamaru categorized her long ago to be very troublesome.

"Baka, I'm a teacher here, you forgot?! You are the only jonin left who hasn't picked up his new students yet. 5 minutes more and I would have searched for you", the blond kunoichi grumbled. "Really, was it that difficult to show up here in time?! Those kids are already planning to take you down, you know?", and with those words she opened the door to the class room.

"Girls listen, your sensei showed up just now. He had an important mission to finish and needed to report personally to the hokage. But now he will be there for you, teaching you all the stuff you need to know", Ino stated happily into the room but turned around once more into his direction sticking out her tongue meaning _'you own me something for this one, idiot'_.

Just before he set his foot into the class room following Ino inside something began to dawn on him. _Girls?! Like in just girls? That can't really happening to him, can it?... _He saw his darkest thoughts confirmed when he looked around the room to find three little girls gawking at him. Shikamaru frowned. What did he do to get punished like that?

One of the girls found her courage back and with a grim expression raised her hand up into the air. "Ino-sensei, Ino-sensei, that has to be a mistake! This man never ever can be our new sensei, you must have gotten the wrong one!", she claimed without even looking anymore into Shikamarus' direction. Her black hair was styled into four tiny spiky ponytails which gave him a little stab through his heart.

Ino moaned in frustration. "Yuhi Akane, I can ascertain you that this man here is the jonin assigned to be your future sensei. Don't you dare to complain about it again. Shikamaru Nara is one of the best shinobi in Konohagakure right now", she answered.

Shikamaru looked up when he heard the name of the girl. _Yuhi... . _His fast mind didn't need a full second to calculate how old Kurenai's and Asuma's child must be now. The result sat face to face with him. His assumption was confirmed when he got a glimpse into her eyes, crimson red.

The little girl crossed her arms in front of her, sulking. "Why can't we have someone cool, like Naruto-sensei or Kiba-sensei? All three of us had always very good grades. Shouldn't we get someone really famous as a teacher for that?! Ino-sensei, I've never heard any story about an "amazing" Shikamaru Nara", Akane stated accusingly.

Ino gazed at her angrily. "Always want to be treated special, don't we Yuhi-san? Well, let me tell you one thing. Maybe he isn't such a flashy hero like Naruto is and he doesn't like to show-off as Kiba-kun does. But he was the only one clever enough to avenge your father's death, Akane. Almost single-handedly. Don't you dare to com…", she was cut short by Shikamaru's deep voice.

"Ino, stop it. It's enough. And you, little-one," he fixed his piercing eyes on the crimson red ones," just don't forget I'll be your sensei now. Which also includes that I decide if you are capable of becoming a ninja, or if you are not", he stressed the last part a bit stronger.

An outcry from all three of his students was the result. The girl right to Akane, looking very suspiciously like a Byakugan user, hissed in her direction, "Akane, you freaking me out. I told you not to put on such a show! Any idea how my clan will react if I can't become a shinobi?"

And from the left a shy girl with short dark blond hair whispered, "Akane-san, maybe we should try to get along with him… He looks scary enough now with this angry eyes..." She became slightly red and looked down into her lap where she strangled a flower with her hands.

Shikamaru's mind made a picture of this scene. Just perfect; all three hated him already. And still… something about this situation made his heart a little warmer. Actually he found himself almost smiling. Almost. Of course he stayed with the angry sensei image. It was working quite well at the moment.

Ino just shook her head about Shikamaru's way of handling the situation. But since the three were no longer her concern she sighed and gave Shikamaru the files of the genin's academy results. "Do what you think is best for them. Asuma-sensei trusted you with this completely. And me too", she said to him and waved to the girls her goodbyes before she started to leave the room. "You will be fine, Akane, Yumi and Hanako. Give it your best and become great shinobi for the sake of this village…", and with that she was gone.

And Shikamaru was alone with "his" girls. _Tse,… that is so troublesome._

He was about to give instructions for a get together, when suddenly Hanako, sitting closest to the windows, screamed out of joy.

"It's him, it's him… Doesn't he look awesome and cool?" She jumped up and looked through the window glass, the two other girls following at once. Now three little heads were pinned to the glass and were babbling with each other. Shikamaru could almost see the little hearts popping out of their heads. His personalhell was awaiting him. _Troublesome girls…_

* * *

Ino walked straight to the barbecue restaurant she has visited so often with team 10 in the past. Choji was already waiting for her, a huge plate full of food in front of him. But he had waited for her, she acknowledged with a smile. "Ino-san, come over, I'm totally starving!", he shouted through the restaurant. _He had definitely not changed a lot…_ She walked over to the table and sat across him. "Then let's start to celebrate stage one of our master plan", she announced.

Choji at once heaved a large portion on his plate and began to eat frantically. "Choji, could you please at least pretend to eat a little more slowly?", Ino asked irritated. But he was still too hungry. This Shikamaru story was really working him up. What if something went wrong? The timing had to be just perfect and he was not much of a strategist. He gulped a huge bite. "When will your mission to Sunagakure start, Ino-san? Are you sure you can handle this alone?", he asked the blond kunoichi between two bites.

"Don't worry, as long as your information is correct I don't see any problems with that. I'm more concerned about her, you know? What if it was her own decision to put down her job as the Suna ambassador in the first place", Ino reasoned. "We actually don't know what went wrong. We are just guessing. And they are both so stupidly stubborn", she said further. Choji just nodded about the last statement.

"Yeah, they certainly have this in common… It's true. Our plan doesn't account for every possible outcome, after all we are not a Nara genius, but we should at least try. And I think the first step was very important for him. To see a reason for going on. The peace won't last forever, just think about this incident which was reported yesterday! We need Shikamaru. And we need him in such a mental state that he is willing to fight again with all his heart for his believes", Choji said.

Ino looked astonished to her former team member. Choji has really become a strong shinobi after all. His face had matured as well, gone were the puppy fat and the softness. Although he certainly had kept this still inside of him. The girl he was going out with had done wonders to his self-confidence. And again it was their friends doing who caused that happiness. Shikamaru had once arranged a dinner with all four of them and then things just worked out between Choji and Shiho. Ino giggled silently inside herself remembering this scene. Shikamaru intended it of course all along, but she was really surprised about it. And glad. That is why Choji was so determined to help him this time instead. And she was also willing to put as much effort into it, even if it implies flirting with Suna's best puppeteer.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Thanks a lot for the first comments. It's my first time publishing a story ^^. The story will progress rather slowly at the beginning, so I hope you keep with me. :) so many ideas still in my head!

* * *

A tall man in a grey cloak was looking towards the falling river in front of him. Despite his young age his short hair was white as snow, held in place with a black ribbon. No sign on it. Straight red lines were decorating his face. He took a deep breath of the damp air of the waterfall, enjoying the moisture a lot after so many years of desert sun and aridity. Their camp was perfectly hidden behind this curtain of water. They all needed the rest. His men were exhausted of the long march from the south to the land of the rivers. A journey back to his origins, their clans origins.

He remembered again, the words his father had spoken to him before starting the ritual and falling into the coma. He had given him all information he needed about the reviving circle and detailed instructions about where to go, where to find the first. And the land of the rivers was just the starting point.

_In the land where the water falls,_

_hidden in the streaming blue,_

_the first will rise when Ryujin calls,_

_screaming for the war long due …_

He was humming at once the first lines of the old song he had been grown up with. A sad song, full of broken promises and revenge. But also with hope at the end. After many weeks of travelling he and his men had reached this paradise. Everything was so green, so unfamiliar; he had felt at once like an intruder. However, this just fuelled the anger burning inside of him. He should feel here at home, but the banishment of his grandfather always had kept him from coming close to the northern border. Ryuko's hands were fists now. He would fulfil the dreams of his family at last. He looked up when he heard the call of a green bee-eater from the end of the tunnel leading to their hideout. Zanyoji was returning with his team, hopefully successful. Loud footsteps were echoing in the tunnel and a figure clad in a similar fashion as him came out of the darkness, a body laying over his left shoulder.

"You found someone I guess", Ryuko commented with a nod towards the dead man carried by his brother. "Nice to see you too, onii-san. Yeah, we came upon a scouting team roughly 20 miles from here. But we need to move soon again. That was our third ambush now in a fortnight. It's getting noticed", Zanyoji answered with an exhausted voice. He dropped the corpse next to the wall and stretched his sour muscles. His team was arriving now as well, each bringing another body. Ryuko walked over and examined the load. With one glance he understood what Zanyoji meant.

"Unluckily they were scouts from Tanigakure. Certainly looking for the other vanished citizens. Brother, it will become difficult to move when the forest is full of shinobi. And you know better than me that River will soon ask Konoha for help. After all they are allies now", Zanyoji said and had sat down, looking up to his older brother. "It's decided then. Do you and your team rest until night; I'll feed the first meanwhile. At midnight we will leave the cave with him", Ryuko replied resolutely and picked up the first body from the ground. _Feeding time._

* * *

It was late at night in Suna. Temari was still sitting on one of the roofs of the city admiring the stars above her. This view always calmed her mind a lot and gave her strength. She couldn't really believe how fast time had passed by. But she promised him to wait. He would handle things this time. And she trusted him so much, although she would never admit it to him. Yet, it was long two years. Temari bit her lip again. It hurt every time she was thinking about him. At day she was getting along, busy with her work and her brothers. At night though, nothing protected her from her wandering mind. She remembered him so clearly, his dark brown eyes which always looked as if he could see completely through her inner walls. This intensity in his eyes has been it. Behind all his put up laziness was a world of perception, calculation and determination. Before meeting him she also had felt drawn to intelligent man. But Shikamaru was way more than that. She closed her eyes and her mind left Sunagakure, travelling back into the past…

_Chunin selection exam. Her brothers and she arrived very early at the tower in the second phase of the exam. A dark time, with Gaara still full of hatred. They were gathering in the large hall, the Hokage awaiting them. Seven teams made it through the test. She didn't want to remember what happened to the one team they encountered earlier. Again, Gaara has been cruel and without hesitation. They were on a mission after all, the three of them. The chunin selection exam was just a disguise for something much greater. But still. Killing was something she really didn't want to do._

_To distract herself from these memories, she started to observe the other remaining genins. Surprisingly she saw that all of the Konoha rookies were present. She noticed even this dropout group with the fatty and the blond in it. Temari was wondering who the leader of those three was, definitely not the girl. She was way much too absorbed by "Sasuke-kun". And the other guy with his hair tight up into a palm? He was yawning the whole time and looked as if he was asleep right now. No, not a leader either, she reasoned. Leaves the fat one. Temari looked at him sceptically. Then suddenly she felt the look of the lazy one on herself, her eyes flickering at once back to him. His eyes were piercing her right there. After what felt like minutes Temari released her breath, remarkably stirred inside by his gaze. It was actually just a very short glance but still she felt awkwardly measured. The voice of the Konoha ninja Hayate Gekko was then interrupting her thoughts and she focused again on the task before her._

_She was paired with this Tenten girl, a weapon specialist. But with her fan she wouldn't have any problems with such an opponent. Temari was sure of the outcome of this match and had no intention to hide her confidence. A glance upstairs to the other genins however raised a feeling of insecurity inside her. There they were again. His eyes examining her every move. She was angry with herself about being influenced by such a nuisance. That caused her to become quite aggressive towards the end of the match, being almost cruel against her unconscious combatant. If it wouldn't have been Gaara who were calling her to step back she would have started a fight with these twin clowns in their green suites. What the hell was the matter with her? It must be the rising tension, considering the tasks which lay before them, she thought._

_She went upstairs to her brothers. Next on the schedule: his fight, Nara Shikamaru. Now she knew his name. He really looked bored, with his hands in his pockets. And very thin in this green mesh T-shirt. Temari observed him now without hesitation, even going so far to step up towards the railing, leaning lazily on to it. That raised a questioning eyebrow of Kankuro, but Temari was of course totally oblivious to it._

_The first minutes of the fight passed by and he was definitely in a lot of trouble, even got some hits from those stupid needles. That Sound girl seemed to have caught him in a genjutsu. Certainly caused by the ringing of the little bells attached to the first needles she had thrown against him. Temari was getting disappointed and bristled with anger about her own imagination. What had she expected? A Konoha nin who was interesting enough to get her attention? She was about to turn away, when suddenly she heard him say "Shadow imitation technique finally complete!" and with that his opponent was frozen to the spot. Astonished Temari, and seemingly everybody else in the hall, was looking at the scenario downstairs. Smirking, Shikamaru had straightened up. He started to explain to the completely surprised Sound girl how he had managed to capture her. He used the strings! The strings, which were attached to the bells of the needles. He followed them with his shadow imitation technique and could thereby detect where the real opponent hid. The genjutsu was broken and the fight started to turn out interesting again. "So he is a shadow user. Binding another person by the help of his shadow. But now, how does he want to win", Temari was thinking by herself, secretly pleased that Shikamaru didn't turn out to be a total dropout. _

_As if he had heard Temari's question Shikamaru got a shuriken out of his leg holster, his opponent imitating now every move after been caught in his jutsu. His eyes were wandering just for a split second up to the blond Suna kunoichi. Then he changed his stance towards a throwing posture._

"_You can't do that, stop it, do you really want to hurt yourself as well", the Sound girl was asking with a trembling voice. Shikamaru never stopped smirking. "Yep, let's see who will be the last one standing", he said and threw his shuriken directly towards her. Of course she was forced to mimic his move, also flinging her shuriken at him. Temari half closed her eyes, twitching in anticipation of a bloody scene. Geez,… he wouldn't really do it the hard way, would he? But a muffled sound and the clangour of metal against stone made her peering again closely. _

_She starred in disbelieve. The Sound nin was down, unconscious. The girl had knocked herself out when Shikamaru was leaning their connected bodies backwards, with the difference that she was standing quite close to the wall and he wasn't. He planned it all along! Hayate Gekko confirmed the obvious: "Winner: Nara Shikamaru"._

_Temari's mouth was still open, when Shikamaru was already withdrawing from the battle ground. Slowly he walked up the stairs, his hands again in his pockets. His team and Sasuke's team members were already waiting for him on the balcony. They were all cheery and loud, congratulating him. But Shikamaru just shrugged with his shoulders and leaned again lazily against the wall with a half-smile. _

_The attention went back to the next match. Uzumaki Naruto against Inuzuka Kiba. All looked down to the battle field, all except of him. His eyes were still lingering on the girl on the opposite side of the hall. Curious._

Temari sighed. This day was still a miracle for her. Something in the way he had looked at her, had caught her ever since. During this preliminary exam, they had acknowledged each other the very first time. Her heartache started to subside. The bond they had started to build at that time would never break. So she thougth at least.


End file.
